I BELIEVE MIMOSA IS CONSIDERED TROPICAL AND AM WONDERING IF ANYONE CAN GIVE ME INFORMATION ON IT'S CARE, SOIL, TRANSPLANTING, ETC. I LIVE IN THE NORTHEAST.
THANKS
Mimosa QUESTIONS
I have a mimosa, albizia julibrissin, http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1764/ here. I live in a heat island (in a small town) in the middle of Ohio's zone 5b. I have my mimosa planted in full sun, protected from the north winds by a fence. I purchased a 3' high tree that I planted in early summer of 2006. It has spent two winters so far outside and survived -7F with no other protection.
Albizia julibrissin, which I believe is what you're talking about, is considerably hardier than what the "experts" claim. Some varieties, such as Summer Chocolate, exhibit even more hardiness than the species.
:)
-Joe
Maureen has another thread around here somewhere, and on that one I think we figured out her mimosa is Mimosa pudica.
Ah, ty. :)
Nevermind. :>
-Joe
Yes, we did establish that. Your's is a tree (with a totally differrent botanical name, isn't that weird?) and mine will stay a not to big plant. More interesting tho is: what is a heat island?
In the plant files there is a picture os a seedling in a white pot and that looks like the mimosa plant that I started and mine will remain small.
My mother and aunt live in Pennsylvania, and they both have several mimosa trees. I am going home this weekend for a visit- I can try to get a species name. They just buy stuff from local nurseries and are not terribly knowledgable with taxonomy.
The mimosa tree is Albizia julibrissin. Or I should say that's the tree that's most often referred to as mimosa here in the US. There are some acacias that go by that common name as well but I don't think they'd grow in Pennsylvania.
I boughta Mimoosa Pudaca about 3 weeks ago in a 2 1/2 in. pot. Since It was root bound and from what I read the directions said to move it to a pot that would give it room to grow so I put it into a 5 inch terra cotta azalia pot a fe days later. It was fine for a few days in the new pot, but now the leaves are yellowing and falling off, some are curling, and none respond to touch. I don't think I've over watered it and the soil was new potting soil- miracle grow. Does anyone have experience with plant? Is it dying or just responding to transplanting? Logees said it was easy to grow.
Any help would be appreciated.
It could just be responding to transplanting, but I'd definitely check the moisture level. The trouble with rootbound plants is you need to water them pretty frequently because there's not a lot of soil in the pot to hold water, but then when you move them into a bigger pot there is more soil available so if you keep watering them at the same frequency you had been before you'll end up overwatering them. Also if you had it in an area where it was getting a fair amount of sunlight, you might move it somewhere a little darker for a little while so that it can settle in. Also, when you repotted it, did you tease apart the roots a little bit? If you didn't then the roots will continue to just grow in circles around themselves and so the plant will still in effect be rootbound even though you've got it in a bigger pot. You need to loosen some of the roots up so they can expand into the new potting mix.
Thanks so much for the info ecrane3. i don't think I over watered it, but I also don't think I loosened the root ball, and I did have it in the sun. Do you think I should repot it and loosen the roots? It's the bigger leave on the bottom that are really affected. The are curling and turning yellow.
Although I hate to stress the plant again, if the roots were wrapped really tight then I think it's in the plant's best interest to do that. After you do that, I'd put the plant somewhere that gets light but not direct sun and leave it there for a little while to settle in.
ecrane, I called Logees and they gave me a new plant. The owener is very nice. he siad the plant can never get dry, because once it does that's it. He said his brother gave
him a wilting one and the owner said "I can bring anything back to life", he said "not his time". the plant died. He pottedd mine for me and it's great, even has a couple of blooms. Bu the way, the 1st one is hanging in, without many leaves, so I'm going to see what happens. That's if my cat doesn't eat the rest of it! i think I read it's poisonous (sp) but he seems happy as ever.
Logees if really a very nice place to deal with and un to go to. Even if you can't go there the catalogue is fun to read.
Maureen
That's great that they gave you a new plant--I've always liked Logees, they're a great company.